NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — The Flying Dragon’s Pole Vault Club in Normal was robbed while at a junior Olympic competition in Texas.
At around 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, two people stole over $50,000 worth of items. Vaulting poles, personal belongings, and a 2021 Chevy Silverado were all stolen in around three minutes.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Chevy Silverados are the most stolen vehicles in the state.
“There were 46 poles. We had four separate bags, and I valued the poles between eight (hundred) and $1,000 apiece. So, there’s around $46,000 just in poles alone. And then we had personal items, clothing, backpacks, all that kind of stuff in the truck,” said Mike Cockerham, owner of the Flying Dragons Pole Vault Club.
The Staybridge Inn, the hotel the athletes and owners were staying in, had a camera, but they were unable to catch the faces of the robbers. The hotel has not helped with the robbery and did not inform their corporate headquarters about the incident.
“When you have a $50,000 to $100,000 loss at your hotel, corporate might want to know about that. And none of them (the hotel workers) had contacted them,” said Cockerham.
Insurance also will not cover the full extent of the loss, only covering around $800. The Cockerham family recently had a house fire, which was billed to their insurance, making it go up in price. If they have to bill insurance for this incident, it could burden them financially.
“The truck is insured, and the contents is insured as well, but for a very minimal amount. Hopefully that this all works out and my insurance rates will go through the roof,” he said.
This crime is devastating to the Flying Dragons, as all of their poles are custom for the athletes, and without them, they are unable to practice.
“They’re all devastated. I mean, it’s what they do. They spend their young life doing this and get a series of poles that they can jump on. When it’s taken away from them and they’re lost. You know, we got to start all over again. And it’s hard,” he said.
This isn’t just devastating for the athletes, but the owners who work hard for their athletes. They have brought in around $14.3 million worth of scholarships for their athletes to go to college.
“I’m extremely upset about it. And I’m not going to say what I told the people in Houston, but it’s a devastating blow to the club because all of the kids jump on a series of poles and some kids have four or five,” he said.
Since the club is a not-for-profit, they are unable to recover financially from this itself. All money they receive from athletes’ dues is put right back into the program, paying for equipment and travel for competitions.
Luckily, a GoFundMe was started in their honor to raise money for the program. This fund has reached people all over the nation and has raised more than $11,000, with a total goal of $40,000.
“I really appreciate the fact that the GoFundMe is out there and people are contributing to it. It just literally blows my mind. We are extremely thankful for that. As this goes on, we will be posting things about how we’ve recouped and what we have done and what we did with the money,” he said.
To donate to the fund, visit their GoFundMe page for more information.
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